Ajax

Ajax is an ancient Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. Its production date, the festival at which it was first presented, and the other tragedies performed alongside it remain unknown, but it is believed to be among Sophocles’s earlier plays, possibly from the 440s BC. The narrative retells a story from Trojan war mythology concerning the suicide of the hero Ajax and its aftermath, exploring the hero’s excesses, reversals of fortune, and social bonds. Other famous works by Sophocles include Antigone, Electra, and Oedipus Rex.

This study guide refers to the 2007 Hackett Classics edition that appears in Four Tragedies: Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes translated by Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff.

Plot Summary

Set during the ninth year of the Trojan war, the play opens in front of the tent of Ajax, who is inside. He believes that he has slaughtered his fellow Greeks after they denied him the prize of Achilles’s arms, awarding them to Odysseus instead, but Athena deluded him. To save the Greeks, she caused Ajax to believe the army’s herds were its people.